transitive verb

• Be a sign or warning that (something, especially something momentous or calamitous) is likely to happen.

  ‘the eclipses portend some major events’

  More example sentences

  • ‘In this issue, our cover story looks at CEOs in danger - and the warning signs that portend trouble.’
  • ‘But perhaps the dreadful birth defects and mutated plants are not evidence at all, but signs and wonders portending some great event.’
  • ‘Asian markets had come under heavy selling on Monday as investors portended a calamitous fall in the U.S. markets when they reopened after a four-day suspension.’
  • ‘Fushida became very excited by this natural phenomenon, viewing it as a mystical sign portending the success of the sneak attack.’
  • ‘The signs portending deflation are all-around for those who have eyes to see.’
  • ‘So how can we say that eclipses portend anything about modern society?’
  • ‘Central to that order is the idea that events in the heavens - particularly lunar and solar eclipses - can alter or portend events on Earth.’
  • ‘He is comic but what he is saying portends the tragic event that is coming.’
  • ‘Decisions have now been taken that portend events, probably within 48 hours, that will result in death and destruction.’
  • ‘If the article coming out on Saturday in Der Spiegel, the German news magazine, is accurate, it seems to me to portend significant difficulties ahead for the US.’
  • ‘These augurs now portend political consequences that may follow the economic upheaval.’
  • ‘It has been disturbing, certainly, to learn that there was substantial information that could have portended the events of 9 / 11.’
  • ‘The devaluation was recognized as more than a technical adjustment: it was a clear sign of French disengagement, portending withdrawal a year later.’
  • ‘Most significantly for Democrats, the election results may portend a backlash against the no-new-taxes mantra that's ruled the Capitol since Gov.’
  • ‘The retreat of the Government from public utility services, one after another, portends evil days for the common man.’
  • ‘That portends an even darker hour for investors whose savings have been mauled in the worst slump in global stock markets for 30 years.’
  • ‘It portends the next evolutionary change in our political history - the demise of the parliamentary system.’
  • ‘Officials said the season's first wildfires burned with an intensity usually not seen until late summer, portending an especially dangerous and costly summer.’
  • ‘Many will see the Asian disaster as portending the advent of doomsday.’
  • ‘But, the rapid growth of productive capacity in many places during the period portended a point when capital would face a problem of overaccumulation.’

  Synonyms

  presage, augur, foreshadow, foretell, prophesy

  View synonyms